80-320 No go on K10D

Gday Folks
We just purchased a K10D knowing that we had some lenses that would fit it. I tried my SMC Pentax-F 35-80 off of an older MZ-50 camera, and the lens works okay. When I try my SMC Pentax FA 80-320 lens off the same camera, there is a flashing F-- in the digital display and nothing works. Reading the forums, it sounds like any F/FA lens should work! Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for the help!

As far as I am aware the FA lenses should work (although someone here will know for certain). It could be that the contacts need a wipe - first step I would suggest getting a soft cloth and wiping all the lens contacts and the ones on the camera (around the lens mount) and trying again...

Regards

The 80-320mm should work and give excellent results.
Have you got the lens set to 'A' if you have try cleaning
the contacts on the lens.

I suddenly just thought that the aperture ring setting to 'A' should be checked too!!

Regards

Seems we both replied at 18:51 Matt

Great minds and all that

Regards

Thanks for the replies folks! I do have it set to A, and tried wiping the contacts. There was a bit of black, they shine now but still with no success. I'll wait to see if there are any other ideas.
Cheers

have you still got the mz-50 to try the lenes on to confirm they work

It definitely should work - anything from the F series onwards will work on a Pentax DSLR just as a new DA series lens does.

It does sound as though the lens isn't going into "A" mode properly as that's exactly what happens if you put a lens on with the aperture set to something other than A. Have you tried wiggling the aperture ring or repeatedly moving it to and from the A position?

go into the menus and set it up to use the aperture ring, then try it out without the "a" setting and see if anything works..

Check you have the latest firmware loaded by holding down the menu key when turning it on.

Firmware version 1.31 is available from here.

Still got the MZ 50, and everyting is good there. Its been on and off the camera a number of times, and switched in and out of A mode. I will try adjusting the aperture setting in menus. I will also look at the firmware.
Thanks again!

The K10D and FA 80-320mm do work together, I've had that combination in the past with no problems.

Try wiping the camera and lens contacts with one or two drops of WD40 on a piece of kitchen roll, then wipe it off with a dry piece. The contacts are spring loaded, are any of them stuck in?

Make sure that the lens is actually locking in place on the camera.

Thanks Don, In menus, I found an item called Aperture Ring. The options were Prohibited, or Permitted. The description below states: "pictures can be taken even when aperture ring position is other than A" I switched it to permitted. It now allows pictures, but they are way over exposed. I may have to try and play with the aperture settings. I may play around with it a bit more and reply back with what else is happening. I don't know much about this camera yet, so it is search and discover. Thanks again for the help people!

When set to "A" the lens should work without any problems whatsoever, so clearly something is amiss. I would check that the aperture is closing down pproperly - with the lens off the camera, operate the aperture stop down lever on the back of the lens. Does the aperture move snappily or is it sticky?

If sticky it will over-expose and it leads the diaphragm cleaning.